Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $210.00 to $200.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

AMAT has been the subject of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.24.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $178.32 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.74. The company has a market cap of $145.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials has a 1 year low of $149.84 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lyell Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 1,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 88.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 61,346 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $14,477,000 after purchasing an additional 28,835 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 91,056 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $21,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $337,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.